


Zuko and Dragon makes Two

by Clickclick (TotallyARealPerson)



Series: Avatar: the Last Airbender fics [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Panic, does zuko is a hermaphrodite?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24312631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotallyARealPerson/pseuds/Clickclick
Summary: Zuko is introduced to the concept of reverse surprise adoption when he thinks he's been given a centuries-old artifact for no reason.Meanwhile, the Gaang thinks he's pregnant.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Avatar: the Last Airbender fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719610
Comments: 6
Kudos: 432





	Zuko and Dragon makes Two

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Amazing Zuko Fic Idea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9538223) by [Caitsidhe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitsidhe/pseuds/Caitsidhe). 



The screams as Zuko and Aang were drowned out by the roaring of dragon fire. It was Zuko who first realized these flames weren't meant to hurt, but to heal, and he slowly lowered his arms. Surrounded by a funnel of rainbow fire was amazing. The warmth in his veins was intense, like he was currently bending instead of being wrapped in someone else's soft warmth.

When it died off, Aang was almost tempted to demand that it was brought back. Six months ago, he might have, but he'd gone through a lot since then and was a more mature person as a result.

Zuko stared in the distance, only jolted out of his reverie when Aang took his elbow and led him back down the stairs.

They spoke briefly with the chief, who then led Aang away to work on some kata the dragons hadn't specified in the transfer of knowledge, and led Zuko back to the solstice room.

"I understand you are the one who opened the doors and took the egg?" the chief asked.

"Yes, I am." Zuko said.

After much deliberation between the sun warrior and his two confidants which Zuko was not privy to but was able to overhear the furious screaming from the next room, he was then given the sun stone without any explanation and basically told to leave with Aang. So he got a bag from one of the villagers who saw he wasn't getting past many traps without accidentally scratching the stone, and left with a huge bulging saddlebag.

He went to his rooms without greeting anyone else and had the sun stone placed far enough away from the ledge that it wouldn't fall without being tipped over, but enough so it had lots of sunlight and heat - or as much as it could get without there being much sunlight at the moment. (It was, after all, called the sun stone. Perhaps something special had to do with the sun?)

~?~

Zuko made tea that night. "It's probably not as good as Uncle's but I've learned a lot. Would you like to hear Uncle's favourite tea joke?" He didn't hold out much hope, honestly. He'd never been one for tea jokes. But murmurs of agreement sprung up from around him so he obliged while passing around the mugs. "W-well, I don't really remember how it starts, but the punchline is 'leaf me alone, I'm bushed!'." There was no laughter. "I-it's funnier when Uncle tells it."

"Probably because he can remember the whole thing." Katara said icily through gulps of her own tea.

"You're probably right," Zuko said, ignoring the tone.

Sokka had been looking down all evening, but his tone of voice when he asked to see Zuko aside from the group spoke volumes. "Hey, Zuko, can I see you for a minute?"

Zuko, never one to refuse such a simple and polite request and sort of afraid of what would happen if he did, followed the Water Tribe boy out of earshot, but close enough so the gang would hear him scream for help if he needed. Sokka was a strategist. If he wanted to beat up Zuko, he would have picked a more ideal location, so the fire prince tried his best to keep his muscles lax.

"Where do they keep Fire Nation criminals?"

"You're going to have to be more specific. There are hundreds of prisons around the Fire Nation," Zuko said.

"We had to leave some people behind after the failed attack during the Eclipse. I was just wondering where they might have gone," Sokka almost pleaded.

Zuko bit the inside of his lip. "There are a few. War criminals generally go to a protected area like Hatamine, inside a dormant volcano. Either that, or they were taken to the Boiling Rock, which is an active volcano that hasn't erupted for hundreds of years but is prone to heating a lake in the middle to the point of it being as hot as lava, or immediately executed for repeated crimes against the state."

Sokka went ash-grey at the 'immediately executed'. Stupid Zuzu, why can't you keep control of your mouth? "So my dad could be dead?," he whispered, horrified.

Zuko thought carefully about how he could comfort his (friend? Comrade? Companion?) teammate. "Yes, but only if there weren't extenuating circumstances. Was your dad known? Did he have a record among the Imperial Archives? War crimes aren't uncommon to be killed for if the court wasn't feeling particularly lenient, or if they consider too many repeated offenses to be crimes against the state."

"Yes! My dad is the Chief of the Southern Tribe!" Sokka shrieked.

Zuko winced. A few heads turned in their direction, and Zuko dragged Sokka closer to where Appa was sleeping. "If he wasn't made an example of by being sent to the Boiling Rock, then he's very likely dead."

"What if he was made an example of?" Sokka asked, concentrating on the part where his dad might not be dead. (Zuko didn't really know how normal families worked, so maybe Sokka's sister didn't hand him lit clothes irons or threatened to burn his hair. His family was probably more sane, and for an instant he felt a flash of jealousy; if Sokka was this desperate to get his father back, then he must have been a good one.)

"We like to lock up the leaders and give regular progress updates, which is somewhat torture because they don't know how their people are. He could have boatloads of information on how to catch more of you, which means they won't give him up so easily." Zuko shrugged. "That is, if he has information they want. They could just as easily get it from his subordinates, and if they broke under the prospect of torture, then they might not have need of him."

Sokka shook his head. "They wouldn't break under torture. They have more resilience than that."

"The prison guards' favourite game is 'gouging out the troublesome prisoner's eyeballs with jagged rocks'. I wouldn't hold out too much hope, especially if they're deemed troublesome," Zuko twirled a lock of hair on his index finger. "Sokka, the Comet comes in a month or two. Me or my uncle will become Fire Lord, and your father will be released."

Sokka took a deep breath to calm himself. "But he might not have both his eyeballs, or he might be dead. Wow, I put the eyeballs thing too high on that list. I need to go get him."

Zuko rubbed his eyelids. "Fine, we'll wait until everyone's asleep and go in the war balloon."

"'We'?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"You'll need someone to get you around the prisons. I didn't spend my entire childhood in the palace, you know," Zuko shrugged. "In fact, I participated in the games at times. It was rather fun."

Sokka looked like he was about to be sick, so Zuko shut up.

~?~

They came back home a week later with Suki, who'd been tortured by having her name carved into the skin on her back - it was infected, and Katara had to heal it, Hakoda, who had received three new jagged parallel scars across his face: he claimed he'd been fighting a sabretooth-moose-lion without a weapon, which Katara also had to heal, and Chit Sang, who wasn't deemed troublesome enough to torture, but was severely malnourished and threw up about a half-hour after dinner.

Zuko, who wasn't quite at ease around the other people yet (which was just fine because they weren't at ease with them either), went back to his room to find the sun stone shattered on the floor. Zuko looked around for a cause, and was about to go back to blame Katara when he saw his bedsheets move.

Wrapped up in the middle was a tiny blue dragon, shivering. Zuko picked it up and cradled it in his arms, he noticed it wasn't very heavy and also very light. It cuddled against him, its wings curling against his arms.

… Wings?

Zuko looked down at the tiny blue lizard. A _dragon_ , his mind supplied. He was holding a dragon.

The dragon, as if sensing Zuko's gaze, looked up at him and chirped. Its tiny claws dug into his shirt at his chest, sensing lots of warmth, and mostly curled up there, hiding its head on the junction between his shoulder and his neck. He jolted a bit, feeling tickled. It needed to be warm, but it also needed a meal.

Oh, damn. What on earth was he supposed to do now?

Washesupposedtoraiseitorsomething?Idon'tknowhowtoraiseadragon,IwishUnclewasstillheretohelpmehewouldknowwhattodobecauseUnclekneweverythingaboutelementalcreatures,amIsupposedtobeitsfather?IDON'TKNOWHOWTOBEAFATHERTOADRAGON,I'MGOINGABITNUTSTRYINGTOFIGURETHINGSOUT!

In his panic, the meditation candles in the middle of the room lit. The dragon snapped to attention, wiggled out of Zuko's arms, and shakily flew to the candles (Zuko followed it with outstretched arms in case it fell). The tiny dragon ate the candle wick, and looked at him like asking for another.

Zuko knelt at the floor and lit his hand on fire. The hatchling came over to him and sucked down as much as it could.

… Right. He really should determine its gender.

He started to stand. The little lizard followed his hand with little wing flaps, exposing its hindquarters. Yup, it's a boy.

Name? Zuko looked in his eyes, and the little dragon reciprocated, looking curious in the face of the serious fire prince. It burped, giving off a little spark and smoke cloud.

"What should I call you, eh?" Zuko spoke softly to the little hatchl as it fed. "Smokespark? Sparksmoke? Smokey? Firelight? Spark?" The dragon flapped his wings and stepped on his fingers. "Spark. Your name is Spark now, okay?"

The dragon didn't really seem to understand him yet, but a blink seemed to be enough confirmation for Zuko. Spark leaned against Zuko again, his tail drooping. "You're tired, aren't you? We should get you to bed."

Zuko got under the covers. Spark laid down on his stomach in a ball, well under the covers and against Zuko's 'sea of chi' to preserve heat.

Zuko watched the little hatchling fall asleep and slowly passed his knuckles over new coarse dragon scales, and promised to himself that he would at least be a better father to Spark than his father was to him.

So the two went to sleep.

No one saw this, of course, but in the morning when Toph went to go wake up Zuko, she sure saw something on his stomach. She didn't really know what it was, so she just left well enough alone (she saw plenty of weird things on other people) and 'forgot' to wake him up.

Zuko fed Spark before he arrived at breakfast, way hungrier than yesterday. He had two bowls of rice before Katara shooed him away because everyone else needs food too, Zuko!

So Zuko went away and got an obscene amount of fruit.

He threw up a few hours later, after intense training and no midday meal. (The Duke watched in the same way you could watch two chariots crash with horrid fascination.)

It took a day or two for the others to catch on to the fire prince's new eating habits before asking him about it.

"Is everything okay, Zuko?" Aang asked. "You're eating more than Sokka."

Zuko slurped up the last of the noodles on his chopsticks. "I've been using more energy recently than before, so I get more hungry. Aang, do ghost peppers happen to grow near here?"

"Not to my knowledge, but there is some hot sauce left in some of the old rooms." Aang answered.

"Mmm. A hundred-year-old spoiled and rotten hot sauce dispensary. How wonderful, just what I wanted." Zuko said sarcastically, raising his bowl to his lips to chug all the broth. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I learned how to make hot spices out of rice when I was on the ship. It should still work."

Zuko got to his feet and went to pick up some apples.

Aang turned to Katara after a minute or two in silence. "Rice is getting really repetitive. I appreciate you making it, but it's so bland and flavourless. Some spices would be nice."

"I don't trust him enough not to poison the rice if he's cooking it," Katara said. "No matter what he did for you in firebending training so far, I still think this is still a long, convoluted plot to get you back to the Fire Nation."

"Katara, he's really changed!" Sokka insisted.

"I don't know what he was like before, but he does seem to be remarkably well-adjusted and nice for someone who grew up in a family of psychopathic murderers and whoever his mother was," Hakoda chimed in, blowing on his noodles to cool them. "His desire to take down the Fire Lord seems to be genuine, and this is coming from the foremost military tactician of our tribe. If you aren't at least civil with him, you might end up driving him back into the Fire Lord's arms."

"I can't trust him after all that happened!" Katara said. "He hunted us for six full moons and betrayed us in Ba Sing Se!"

It was at this point that Zuko came back to the meeting place with a bag full of apples. "I admit to hunting you, but I don't see how I betrayed you."

Katara's fury became directed at him. "Really? We bond over our mothers and start talking like we're actual people who haven't been fighting each other for generations of battle-"

"You remember I'm not my ancestors, right?" Zuko interrupted.

His reasoning was completely blown over, "- and I offered to heal your scar-"

"I never actually said I wanted to get rid of-" Zuko was interrupted once more.

"- and you said you would join us!" Katara would have continued, but Zuko interrupted again.

"You're remembering things wrong. I never said I would join you, and I most certainly don't break my word. My uncle taught me better than that. If I said I would join you, I would have joined you." Zuko said. "Not to mention I could easily have arranged to have a whole fleet of soldiers at the Sun Warrior settlement to capture Aang if I wasn't serious about joining you, and I could have told as many lies as I wanted to your brother as we searched for your father, but I didn't. I didn't abandon your brother when we had an escape route ready, and I didn't abandon his girlfriend even though it would have been convenient, and I didn't let your father go without medical treatment for his burns even though I'm the only one here who has enough experience with burns to heal them without cheating bending motherfuckery, and also the only one who was there to heal his burns, prevent infection, and possible death!" Zuko started yelling. "You would know that too, if you weren't all shortsighted idiots who couldn't collectively think your way out of a paper bag!"

"Calm down, Zuko, please." Sokka got to his feet.

The stones in the temple floor/ceiling were starting to be heated beyond tolerance levels for people who grew up with no shoes on ice and snow. Katara was jumping around, trying to cool down her feet, and Sokka did the smart thing and jumped in the fountain which felt more like a hot tub than a stew pot. Chit Sang didn't really care since he'd been in the middle of a volcano for the past three years and Aang was on the ceiling eating one of the apples Zuko had brought, and Hakoda only winced and kept eating, and everyone else wasn't in the room, instead foraging for food on their own, but Katara felt like she was being tortured.

"Katara, I think you should apologise." Aang said, watching as the stones were starting to crack from the heat and Hakoda moved to the fountain.

"Zuko, you're melting our shoes. Please stop," Hakoda said.

Zuko calmed down instantly. "I'm sorry. Aang, it's time for your firebending training."

Aang cooled the floor tiles with a gentle airbending gust and waterbending spurt. Katara healed the soles of her feet, then started to heal everyone else and work on replacing the soles on everyone's shoes.

Zuko and Aang didn't show up for lunch, but they did show up to dinner covered in sweat.

Zuko started speaking quietly. "I'm sorry I burned your feet. There is no excuse."

"I was wrong too. I shouldn't have been treating you like the plague," Katara said. "You're not the enemy anymore. I don't trust you for the moment, but I know you'll earn it so I can be civil."

A nod from Zuko, and everyone continued eating.

Zuko retired to his room and fed Spark with a strong flame, as he had for every night before. So far Spark seemed satisfied, and had no trouble fitting under his shirt, so no fuss was made about finding another hiding place. Dragons grew over a process of decades, so Spark would fit under his shirt for a few months, at least until the Fire Lord was defeated and he was able to raise the little dragon without fear of lasting repercussions. (The first thing to be eliminated were those Agni-damned Dragon-hunting laws.)

Spark, as if sensing his anger in his post-eating nap on his torso, stretched out a leathery wing to cover Zuko's mouth, like saying 'stop thinking so loudly'. Zuko obliged, righting Spark's wing and throwing a blanket over his lower half and just enough so Spark still had a gap to breathe with.

That was how Katara found him that morning, since Toph had been taken off 'wake up Zuko' duty since he had a tendency to want to oversleep.

Spark, in the middle of the night, had curled up to the warmest spot on Zuko: his stomach. With the appearance of him being three months pregnant (which was very distinguishable when you have to learn to read body language through heavy parkas) Katara nearly shrieked, but took herself out of the room far enough away, and then shrieked.

Of course, Katara told everyone. The Duke volunteered the information on how he'd seen Zuko throw up and then casually clean it up and everyone immediately thought of morning sickness. So Toph told them about how she'd 'seen' Zuko with a bump on his stomach as well.

Hakoda told them all they were insane because Zuko wasn't even remotely female. Everyone else just sort of let it go, because Zuko showed up to breakfast that day with a very expertly concealed stomach where Spark was still sleeping.

The theory was only brought up again when Zuko, Toph, and Katara collectively made a hot spring and Zuko would just sit on the side until Katara splashed him and Toph dragged him under, and his clothing started sticking to his skin. He clutched his stomach tightly to prevent Spark moving or ripping his shirt, but the bump on his stomach was still very visible.

So everyone goes to Hakoda again because you're the only one who's ever raised a kid among us, dad! You have to help Zuko, we think he's pregnant!

(Hakoda is seriously starting to doubt these kids' sanity.) He tells them there's no way Zuko's pregnant because he's male, and that's the end of it until Hakoda happens to go to the hot springs early in the morning for a quick bath, cold or not, to find Zuko there, covered with thick steam, but very clearly wearing a shirt with a thick bump at the stomach.

Hakoda starts writing all his advice on How to be a Dad 101, but realized most of it only works in the Southern tribe, and when you eliminate all of the snow parts or stuff that only works in snow, you still have a diet with only meat, lots of missing fur pelts, and stuff that won't work without a partner (usually female, but he wasn't picky).

He has no idea how firebenders raise their children, but the origins of that burn scar wasn't uncommon knowledge if you bothered to dig for it. He only hoped Zuko would be better than his own father at raising children, for the sake of his kid.

Meanwhile, Zuko notices a lot of people are having conversations, and abruptly stop whenever he enters the room. Like, he's fine with not being trusted - he did chase them around the world for a little less than half a year, but actively excluding them from conversations was not only rude, but contributing to his estrangement from the group. Like, you barely trust me already, but you want to actively trust me less?

Mostly, he ignores it. Especially after Katara's apology, and because he didn't have time to go on another life-altering field trip with anyone. That can wait until after the War, ya know? He'd already had enough to last a lifetime.

His father demanded blood and fear during his rule. He looked down into his shirt, where a sleeping Spark was still clinging to his muscles. He would demand respect and the wellness of others, but fear and blood was a big no-no for him. It was something Sozin very actively did, and an ideology his children and grandchildren followed. Great-aunt Zukarin, for whom Zuko was named, was known as Oni and known for used swords with her firebending. She often charged straight into a fight like a one-woman army, lobbing off heads left and right. She was executed later in life for keeping a dragon and not killing it, and it ended with Ozai killing it.

Zuko clutched his shirt a bit tighter to hug Spark closer to him. The dragon-hunting laws stood out very clearly in his mind. Dismantling it would be the first thing he would do when he took the reigns.

Unaware was he of the fact that the Gaang were planning on keeping an eye on Zuko so he could have more protection along with his apparent unborn kid. So they moved his bed roll to the common area and set it up around the most powerful benders of their camp, along with Sokka and his space sword.

See anyone try to beat that.

~?~

The Fire Nation beat that. Tremors shook the temple as it kept falling apart. Everyone immediately came awake, grabbed their most important items, and fled to the most obvious tunnel for the war balloon. But Zuko knew Azula wouldn't let them go without what she came for. He and Aang.

Azula had gone crazy. Zuko could see that immediately. But she was still driven and powerful. There was one advantage: Azula didn't know dragonfire's pull. So he ran at her with the intention to fight her, which is what made Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki run after him on Appa.

Zuko and Azula's was fairly even, actually. They both blasted each other off the top of the blimp, at least. Azula saved herself by latching to a cliff, but Appa's maneuvering around fire blasts made it hard to catch him. Katara tried to catch him with water currents, and Toph tried bending the cliff, but nothing worked. Aang even made Katara take the reigns and jumped into the fray after Zuko, which worked, but it was especially difficult flying with two people, and Aang was falling too. Zuko jumped off of the blue glider and onto a nearby rock face, climbing up with renewed fury until he burst into one of the airships and went absolutely ballistic.

It ended up falling. Obviously. A firebender near the comet up against other firebenders who haven't been training with and raising dragons? Nope. No chance. Not against him.

"I am the greatest dad in the world!" Zuko screeched as he knocked out the engine, heatbending the coolers to immediately go quiet and melt. "If you shits never forget it, it'll be too soon!"

After the first airship faltered and fell, the rest made a strategic retreat and left. Zuko managed to escape from the falling airship and latched onto the rock face again, where he and Azula had a short-lived fight that ended with Azula's hands melting the cliff and Zuko falling onto Appa's waiting saddle. The Gaang quickly sped away.

Zuko looked under his shirt. Spark was still sleeping, somehow.

He fell asleep somewhere along the way to their new campsite.

When they got there, Zuko only barely shuffled awake, and then fell asleep again on the softest patch of grass in the clearing.

Zuko slept until Spark woke him up, wiggling and squirming against his egg-father's stomach.

He looked under his shirt. "Well, you're certainly being squirmy today," he said pleasantly. "Good. I'll just be a minute and you can go crazy, okay?" Spark snuffled, sending out a plume of smoke that dispersed under Zuko's shirt. "I know. I'll tell them soon, dearest, I promise."

Aang turned over, seemingly still sleeping, but actually sort of internally freaking out. Zuko got up and hid behind the rock, feeding his little lizard, and Spark trilled happily.

Aang knew that sound VERY well. Kuzon's family used to own a dragon nursery - they would pick up dragons from the wild, train them, and let them go when they felt they were needed somewhere. Tokageumare was their clan name for a very good reason, after all. "When d'ja get a dragon," Aang asked softly in Zuko's ear.

Zuko didn't have enough energy to start. "When we visited the sun warriors. The sun stone was a dragon's egg."

"And you've been hiding him?" Aang asked, picking up the little lizards and petting its scales soothingly. Spark cooed and leaned into Aang's hand.

"They made me promise to keep him a secret." Zuko held his arms expectantly, and Aang passed him the little lizard again. The little dragon melted much easier into Zuko's arms and trilled happily.

"Well, yeah, that makes sense. I'll keep your secret. Promise."

~?~

With everyone busy during the Comet, Spark had no choice but to go with Zuko and take down Azula.

"You got a lizard," said Azula.

"Yeah, I noticed," Zuko said shortly. He hadn't come with backup for a very good reason, after all.

Spark felt the aggression and anger rolling off Azula in waves. He flew off to the turlteduck pond and curled up under the nice, big tree in the middle.

Which was precisely the moment when the Comet came overhead. Spark covered his eyes with his wings and whined softly.

With no one around to keep as a hostage, Azula lost. Quite easily, in fact. While Zuko's sister had slowly been descending into madness, Azula's brother was stuck with Spark, who'd expanded his energy reserves with constant feeding and heat-leeching.

Azula, chained up and wailing, was ignored by her brother as he walked straight towards the turtleduck pond. Spark emerged from the bush to rush into Zuko's arms.

"How's my little heir, huh?" Zuko asked with a soothing tone of voice that always made Spark melt. "We'll be okay. We'll fix this." He looked around, at the burning capital and the Comet, burning across the sky.

"All of this."

**Author's Note:**

> Same rules as Burnt Curtains apply. Except for the credit thing, in case of adoption. Credit Caitsidhe instead of me.


End file.
